Statistics - Math 12 (Sections #77181 and 77734)

Statistics is the critical thinking course for quantitative information. No one can make sense of numerical reports (e.g., about health risks, pre-election polls, global warming) without an intuitive or educated sense of statistical processes. Statistical understanding is your best defense against those who try to manipulate numbers (and you) to support their causes.

Elementary Statistics Using the Graphing Calculator (3nd ed.) by Mario Triola (ISBN 0-321-64148-5) The bookstore won't let me keep ordering the 2nd edition. If you want to use the 2nd edition, you may, but be aware the problem sets will be different.

Required:

Calculator: TI-83Plus/silver edition or TI-84Plus/silver edition. It is possible to use an alternate calculator. It is your responsibility to ensure that you can do the assigned tasks with an alternate calculator. Check out rentcalculators.org Discount code: CC95003

Required:

Course handouts from this webpage. I will tell you what to print. (This has the worksheets we will do in class.)

The prerequisite for this course is Math 152, Intermediate Algebra. You may take Math 12 if you meet any of the following:

You have passed Math 152 at Cabrillo College

You have passed the equivalent at another college or earned a 3, 4 or 5 on the AP Calculus exam and have had your transcripts processed by a counselor here at Cabrillo.

You assessed at the transfer level here at Cabrillo.

You must get your prerequisites cleared by a counselor here at Cabrillo before you will be allowed to enroll in the course.

Taking a Math Course

If you meet the prerequisite, you can succeed in this class. And stats is right for you if you work at it a bit every day, rather than one mega-day every week or two. Statistics is like a foreign language you can't learn to speak it unless you use it every day. It's true that you can go a while without having to demonstrate any progress in the class. But waiting until the last day to tackle three chapters and 93 homework problems is not a recipe for success.

You can pass this course. But you are not likely to pass if you make the following choices:

Reading and studying in a cursory rather than careful manner

Taking too many units relative to your work and family obligations

Working too many hours relative to your college and family obligations

Not asking for help (from your instructor and statistics tutors) when you are confused

Not learning how to use your calculator early in the term

Not finishing homework assignments

Not studying homework answers and comparing them to your own work to observe your misunderstandings

Not working with your instructor and statistics tutors to erase your misunderstandings

If you anticipate that these choices will apply to you this semester, don't take statistics.

Learning Objectives

By the end of the course, your success will be clearly demonstrated by the following skills:

Ability to calculate and interpret the meaning of probability in various settings.
Ability to choose appropriate statistical tools for different settings and use them appropriately.

Ability to develop appropriate interpretations and conclusions from statistical research and calculator results.

Special Needs

Accommodations are provided to ensure equal opportunity for students with verified disabilities. Go to my Cabrillo Homepage to review my office hours, then correspond with me, include a verification of your disability and a counselor's or specialist's recommendation for accommodating your needs. Get more information from Cabrillo College'sDisabled Students Program and Services.